– By Dianne Finstad for Canadian Rodeo News
Clint Laye had done the work, finished the regular season strong, and then proceeded to seal the deal on a third Canadian bareback championship over five rounds of action at Rogers Place in Edmonton.
Along the way, he earned almost as much in four days as he had all season, collecting $40,485, including the $17,100 bonus for finishing first in the aggregate.
“I never won any go-rounds, just made good solid rides and tried to ride every horse as good as I could,” remarks Laye. “Just had a good solid week, and a solid year.”
‘Solid’ is accurate, but doesn’t quite do justice to the showy spur rides the experienced Cadogan talent consistently laid down. Coming into Edmonton with his first Season Leader title and a $14,000 cushion, he managed to ‘knock the rust off’ with an 85.5 on C5’s Flapjack, to set the tone for his whole CFR.
“I’m gonna be honest, I was a little bit nervous,” admits Laye about his opening night. “It’s been since Armstrong and Langley that I’ve gotten on and it’s always a bit nerve-wracking, but I kept everything under control, and it’s nice to get that one out of the way. If you’re not getting nervous, there’s something’s wrong.”
Laye followed that up with a matching score the next night on his old Vold friend True Grit. He saved his best mark for the Saturday night finale, to put an exclamation mark on securing the Canadian title, with an 86.5 on Calgary Stampede’s Fresh Chick.
“At this point in the week, it doesn’t really matter which one you’ve got. You’re loosened up, and in the zone, and they could’ve run anything in today, and I would’ve been happy with it.”
Laye added to his bank account in every round, racking up 422.75 points on the five rides, to close the books on 2025 with a tally of $85,31. To top it off, Laye also carried on his pattern of odd year titles – 2021, ‘23 and now ‘25.
“Back-to-back would be nice, but I seem to keep taking a year off in between,” chuckles the soon-to-be 32-year-old.
“It’s taken a lot of years – ten trips here, but my mindset’s a lot better. Body might a little bit slower, but I’m somewhat getting it figured out what to do,” smiles Laye, who made his first appearance at a CFR as a 16-year-old in 2010. “I just always go back and try to remember the first time I came here in the novice, and the feelings I had, and what kept me doing it, and just try and block everything else out.”
“This one feels really good. Coming into today, I didn’t have any pressure on myself. I remember the first one just feeling so much pressure coming into the last day, wanting to win. This whole week I just felt good, and I enjoyed my time.”
“Getting older, I’m starting to realize maybe the winning isn’t everything – it’s the time that you get here. Monday morning, win or lose, I’ll be doing the same thing. But these moments, getting to come here and experience this, and be around the other bareback riders and the rodeo community and my family, it’s just outstanding.”
Laye and his wife Cassidy have two sons, who thoroughly enjoyed watching their Dad ride to a win – Cohen, who’s 9 and Caysen, who’s 5.
“Oh, it’s so awesome. They’ve been here all week. My boys are old enough now they know everything that’s going on, and the bucking horses. They follow it really good, so I have some sharp eyes on me.”
Coming from a rodeo legacy family himself, Laye can hardly wait to see the next generation in the sport.
“The boys are pretty interested in it, so that’ll be more fun than anything.”
2024 Canadian Champion Kody Lamb finished in the reserve spot this year, but still collected $37,854 and a go-round buckle from his time in Edmonton.
Another CFR bareback riding highlight was the shiny performance of CFR Rookie Sam Petersen. The Montana cowboy chalked up two go-round wins, including the highest marked ride of the event – an 89.5 on Calgary’s Blasting Sand. He’s the only one of the CFR field headed to Las Vegas, where he comes into the National Finals Rodeo in second place, behind frontrunner Rocker Steiner.